Have You Ever Seen the Rain
by Lost Lantean
Summary: Songfic set in the Hard Rain campaign


Author's note: This was written as a challenge by a friend. I'm moving it here from my now deactivated DeviantArt account.

* * *

Nick looked around as he opened a first aid kit and began to help Rochelle patch up her wounds. Nearby Coach was helping Ellis bandage up his arms which had several long gashes from an encounter with a hunter. Of course none of them were really in good shape and it was only thanks to a generous dose of painkillers that Nick himself could move. Rochelle looked worn as the dose of adrenaline she had given herself as they sprinted through the cane field wore off. Seeing that she was now struggling to stay on her feet, Nick grabbed her and gently set her down onto a sleeping bag before opening a fresh first aid pack and beginning to work on her wounds. Coach groaned in pain as he eased himself down unto a mat while Ellis finished bandaging him up. Ellis sat down to let coach stitch up his back. Ragged, pained breathing mixed with the sound of the rain on the rook and door. Nick laid down, humming a song he'd once heard.

_Someone told me long ago there's a calm before the storm_

_I know, it's been comin' for some time_

_When it's over, so they say, it'll rain a sunny day_

_I know, shinin' down like water_

The dark green hue of the light filtering into the safe room was the first clue that the trip back to the boat was going to be more of a problem than expected. A bright flash and the entire building, small though it was, shook under the boom of the thunderclap. Wind driven rain slammed into the steel door and the metal bar used to secure the door rattled as it held back nature's fury. Nick sidestepped the water being forced into the room by the wind. "Brings to mind another CCR song." A short lull in the wind and rain signaled their time to exit. The fury of the storm combined with the zombies made the trip something nightmares were made of.

_I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain?_

_I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain_

_Comin' down on a sunny day?_

Huddled together on the roof of a house, the survivors watched in awe as another squall closed in. Lightening danced in the sky, each stroke lighting the area as if it was a sunny day. Wind lashed at their bodies, driving the curtain of icy water into their already soaked bodies. Weapons shook as they all shivered and the howl of the wind and sound of rain around them was interrupted by only two things: The crack of thunder and the crack of gunfire.

_Yesterday and days before, sun is cold and rain is hard_

_I know, been that way for all my time_

_'Til forever, on it goes through the circle, fast and slow_

_I know, it can't stop, I wonder_

The restaurant had seen better days as the survivors trudged inside to gather supplies and take a respite from the driving rain. Rochelle wrung out her hair while Nick tried to brush the water off of his once impressive suit. Coach shivered in the damp but made no effort to dry himself off, he could handle this a little longer. Ellis racked a shell into his shotgun and looked at the group, "Ready to signal Virgil?"

A solemn nod from everyone let him know the answer. They were ready to once again fight the horde that would come to try and prevent their escape. Everyone hoped it would be the last time, that the next stop would bring freedom from this. But they were prepared as well, every other time they thought they'd escaped they turned out to be wrong.

_I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain?_

_I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain_

_Comin' down on a sunny day?_

A lull in between waves of infected and the rain let the group hear the welcome sound of a tugboat horn. Knowing that it was now or never they began to run to safety. behind them indistinct dark forms surged forward, their screeching only partially obscured by the sound of the hard rain. There was no time to waste as Ellis threw a pipe bomb and Rochelle readied her molotov before realizing just how useless it would be now and discarding it. The bottle floated in the rainwater, tinted reddish by the blood of the infected that still rushed towards them like a curtain of death. The boat offered safety and they ran to it, finally stumbling and falling unto its decks as the infected scrambled to get on board. The noise of the engines might as well have been warm sunshine for how it made the group feel as they shot the last of the infected clinging to the sides.

_Yeah, I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain?_

_I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain_

_Comin' down on a sunny day?_

An hour later and Rochelle stood alone on the deck while the others slept below. The warm sunshine felt good on her face and was doing wonders for drying her still damp clothes. Looking in the direction they had come from she was treated to a unique view: The sun, shining warmly on half the sky while the last vestiges of the wave of severe weather burned itself out. Curtains of rain still fell from the dark clouds that were fleeing the area, the bitter cold of the water contrasting harshly with the beautiful warmth of the sunny sky. Now she had seen the rain coming down on a sunny day. She could only hope that was a sign of better days to come.


End file.
